Illinois Basketball: 4 big statistics from the Illini win over Indiana, again

Another big win for Illinois basketball on Tuesday moves the program to 12-5 on the season and puts them in a great position for the NCAA tournament.

This wasn’t an easy victory by any means. Honestly, Illinois didn’t look great in the win over Indiana, but a win is a win. I will take an ugly win over the team looking great and getting a loss every day of the week. With this win came some interesting numbers, though.

Here are four big statistics from the Illini win over Indiana.

1. -1

Coming into the game against Indiana, the Illini were one of the best teams in the nation in the rebounding department.

Illinois was pulling down 40.4 rebounds per game, which ranked No. 15 in the nation. Indiana, on the other hand, was averaging 34.4 rebounds per game, which ranked No. 207 in the nation. Illinois was clearly the better rebounding team entering the matchup.

In the first game between the two college basketball titans, Illinois got the best of the Hoosiers, outrebounding Indiana 40-28. This was a big reason why the Illini came out victorious the first time around. But this wasn’t the case on Tuesday night.

Indiana outrebounded Illinois 38-37, giving the Illini a rebounding margin of -1.

Honestly, I was shocked how bad Illinois was rebounding the ball. Indiana had more energy throughout the first 75-percent of the game. While the Illini weren’t playing very well, they continued to keep it close.

Kofi Cockburn led Illinois in rebounding once again, as he pulled down 10 rebounds on the night. Illinois’ biggest problem was the energy, though. Trayce Jackson-Davis came out with a lot of spunk and was able to hit the boards hard. He finished the game with 14 rebounds.

Overall, the big reason Indiana was able to take Illinois to overtime was the fact they came with more energy on the glass. The Illini shouldn’t lose the rebounding margin. We are lucky to come away with a win when we have a rebounding margin of -1.